


Love to Ease: Close Call

by voleuse



Series: Love to Ease [2]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:15:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25059844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voleuse/pseuds/voleuse
Summary: Five what-ifs for Rey and Ben.2. What if Rey had trained with Luke after Kylo left?
Relationships: Rey & Luke Skywalker, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: Love to Ease [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1813729
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	Love to Ease: Close Call

**Author's Note:**

> All AUs. Playing fast and loose with cause and effect.

**What if Rey had trained with Luke after Kylo left?**

_'Cause it feels like I've been_  
I've been here before  
You are not my savior  
But I still don't go 

The temple had been destroyed for months by the time Rey arrived. The local who had brought her to just outside the ruins said that Master Skywalker wasn't taking any more students. Rey thanked them, then she made her way to what they said was his quarters.

It was placed so there was a direct view of the ruins. And a graveyard.

She stood outside the door a while, hoping that somehow she wouldn't have to make a scene. As the light faded and the air cooled, she realized she was being silly. She took one step forward, and a figure appeared in the doorway.

"I was really hoping you'd go away," the man said. His hair was scruffy and his eyes sad. Those robes, though, Rey knew were that of a Jedi, or what the stories had said they were, at least. "Come in if you're going to come in," he said, and turned to retreat into the building.

Rey set her pack and staff by the door as she entered the room. The lights were dim but warm, and it seemed Master Skywalker had been picking at his dinner when she arrived.

"You're hungry," he said, startling her. "Sit down. Eat." He gestured to a seat by the table and he settled himself in the other.

Rey nodded. "Thank you." The bread was a bit stale, but the stewed vegetables were seasoned perfectly. Between bites, Rey shared a short version of who she was, and the path she had traveled. Skywalker drank something--wine, perhaps--from a glass rung with silver etching.

When she had cleared her plate, sheepishly taken another serving, and finished that, he set his glass on the table with a clink. "Why are you here?" he asked.

Rey cleared her throat. "To become a Jedi."

"No." Luke waved a hand as if brushing away a fly. "Why else would you come to the temple? But it's gone now." He leaned forward. "Why didn't you leave?"

"Oh." Rey ran through a handful of explanations, each a bit more logical, more practical than the last. Finally, though, she shared the truth. "I hear...voices...sometimes. They said I needed to find Skywalker."

Skywalker nodded, thoughtful. "They can be annoying, can't they?" He looked around the room as if it was crowded. "I wanted to leave after...the temple was destroyed. They wouldn't stop talking to me until I agreed to stay."

"If only they were better with directions," Rey said, relieved she wasn't the lone listener. "I've been traveling for weeks."

"And they sent you to me," he murmured. Skywalker stared at her for a long moment, then sighed. He reached out and placed a hand on her temple; she tried not to flinch. He closed his eyes, then jerked back as he opened them. "I've never," he started, then stopped. "Who _are_ you?"

Rey shrugged, tamping down something bitter in her throat. "All I have is my name."

Skywalker nodded, but his gaze was just over her shoulder. "And the Force," he said. He turned his eyes back to her. "I hope you don't mind sleeping in a tent."

***

From dawn to dusk, she trained for days. First it was physical endurance--she surprised Skywalker with climbing, but it was a while before she could sprint as far as he demanded. Harder still was the meditation, the _waiting_ for something to happen, or to open.

During their midday meals, he would sketch out some story, or some tenet, of the Jedi. "My training wasn't very thorough on that end," he confessed. "I often traveled with-- I often traveled to find more stories, so I could pass them on."

And Rey ate three meals a day, and could drink as much water as she needed. Her tent--while the apprentice quarters were somewhat intact, neither she nor Skywalker approached them--gave her room to turn in her sleep. The nights were temperate, and the rains were kind.

Sometimes, though, Master Skywalker woke shouting in the middle of the night. The first time it had happened, she'd dashed into his quarters to see him on the floor, hugging his knees, his breath ragged. She learned to wait a moment before checking on him--while he was invariably fine, if shaken, she'd learned not to take safety for granted long ago.

Skywalker never seemed to resent her intrusions, though he never needed her help, either. One night, however, when she peered in, he was standing, perfectly awake. "Follow me," he said, and strode out, slowly, to the ruins.

The walk was silent, save for the rustle of grass beneath their feet. In a while, the grass gave way to cracked dirt, and they were on the outskirts of the main ruin. The air still smelled of burnt wood and cracked stone.

Rey looked sideways at Skywalker, assessed what the blankness of his expression meant. "They said one of the students..." 

Skywalker shook himself. "Yes. He was," his voice cracked, "he was my nephew, Ben. It was my fault."

And, there in the night's cover, he told her about Ben Solo, and the dark side, and the Sith.

***

"Jedi temples are often built in places where the Force can be felt especially strongly," Skywalker said. It was days later, and they had woken at dawn to wander far from the temple. "For the Force, there must always be balance."

As they approached a wooded area, Rey felt a creeping shiver up her spine. "Master Skywalker?" 

"But where there is light, there is dark," he said. They halted. Before them was a tangle of trees, old and scarred, twisting about each other so she couldn't see between them.

At Skywalker's nod, she stepped close, then closer to the hollow. She strained her eyes as she looked into the shadows.

The dark side looked back.

Rey jerked back, stumbling, collapsing.

Skywalker crouched next to her. His hand on her shoulder helped her shake away...something. 

"I'm sorry," he said. "It was too soon." He helped her stand and walk a few paces away, until she felt she could move on her own.

"What was that?" Rey asked.

Skywalker laughed joylessly. "You already know."

"Why did you take me there?" she amended.

He stopped walking, head bowed. "I never wanted to confront the growing darkness in Ben," he explained. "Maybe if I had, he wouldn't have been so easily led by Snoke."

"Growing darkness?" Rey turned the words in her mind, trying to find a different meaning than they had. "You see it in me." Her hand clenched around her staff. 

"Yes," he said. Then he reached out and put his hand on her shoulder again. "We all have that darkness, Rey. And for some, it is stronger than most."

She looked at him. "Balance. Light and dark."

"Being strong in the Force means you'll feel both, and be drawn to both." He let his arm fall back and they resumed walking. "You're strong in the Force, very strong."

Rey blinked. "Like Ben."

"And," he continued, "the dark side is easier, in many ways. Especially if you want to learn faster than your teachers think is wise."

By the time they reached home, dawn was approaching. Skywalker stared out at the ruins. 

"I won't fail you, Rey." Then he grinned. "Get some sleep. You have training in two hours."

***

Master Skywalker had departed on one of his trips to find Jedi artifacts. Rey had wanted to accompany him, but he shook his head. "Maybe next time," he said. "But I don't want to interrupt your training routine right now." So he took a shuttle out, and Rey was given charge of the temple remnants.

Rey woke with a start, though she couldn't tell why at first. There was a silence too complete to be empty. She crept out of her tent just as a tall figure stepped out of Skywalker's quarters.

Rey froze as she met the stranger's eyes. His expression seemed as bewildered as hers, and while the bit of light allowed her to see him, the angles of his face seemed limned with shadows. 

It felt like they stared at each other for a year, or perhaps two.

Finally, he spoke. "Where is Luke Skywalker?" 

Rey wished she had brought her staff out with her. "Master Skywalker is away," she replied. 

The man studied her as he stepped closer. "You're an apprentice."

"I can pass a message on to him," Rey continued. 

"I didn't think he would dare," the man muttered. He tilted his head. "He's gone on one of his quests, hasn't he? Why aren't you with him?"

Rey gasped. "You're Ben."

"No." The man's face settled into a scowl. "Ben Solo is dead. I am Kylo Ren."

"Really?" Rey bit her lower lip as she considered him. "Why?"

"Because," the man said. "Ben Solo is--" he stuttered to a halt. "It doesn't matter. When will Skywalker return?"

Rey drew closer to him, until he was an arm's length away. "He misses you," she said.

"Funny," he said. "Last time I saw him, he wanted to kill me."

"And he regrets it," she said. She had to tip her chin up to hold his gaze. "You can still come back."

His eyes traced over her face; she could almost feel it. "Why did he take you in?" he said, quietly, as if to himself. He lifted his hand and placed it against her cheek, his fingertips barely brushing her skin.

Rey tried not to shiver. "I needed training," she said.

"Yes," he replied. Something behind his eyes set. "Well, Snoke asked me to bring him a Jedi. I guess you'll do."

His palm tightened against her jaw, and a spike of pain seared through Rey before everything fell to black.

**Author's Note:**

> Title and epigraphs adapted from Massive Attack's [**Dissolved Girl**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABQjT6gDKu0).


End file.
